Gender designation of rooms on Central Campus is now a practice of the past, Campus Council decided at its meeting Thursday night.
Campus Council members approved a resolution that will remove gender designation of rooms on Central Campus during the Room Pix process in the Spring.
“[We’re] making co-ed blocking on Central a little bit simpler,” said Vice President Alex Reese, a junior who proposed the resolution.
Currently, students opting to live on Central can get up to six apartments per block. The fact that each room is designated by gender, however, has hindered students’ ability to live in the blocks they planned for because males and females go through the Room Pix process separately. The outcome depends entirely on the availability of male and female rooms that are in close proximity of each other.
“Our [Residence Life and Housing Services] staff advisers will tell you that those designations are arbitrary,” Reese said. “By removing them, we’re adding a degree of flexibility for students.”
The situation has caused frustrations for students going through the process in the past, RLHS Assistant Director of Communications Jen Frank said. Campus Council leaders said they hoped the resolution, though not perfect, will allow more students to obtain the housing they prefer.
Reese also proposed an alternate resolution that would put a cap on the number of each type of room—two-bedroom suite, two-bedroom and one-bedroom apartments—available to each gender based on the proportion of the total population they represent.
But Frank said gender equality amongst dorm types is “a very delicate balance.”
“People [are] always wondering if this is fair,” she said.
After a lengthy debate, however, Campus Council members decided to pass the first resolution as one that would be easier to implement.
In other business:
Voting took place for two new positions on Campus Council. Junior Tommy O’Malley will be the new liaison to Duke Student Government and junior Drew Everson will be the new liaison to the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee.
Facilities and Services Chair John Pryor, a junior, asked Campus Council to brainstorm new ways to use the committee’s $75,000 budget to improve campus. Members considered improving the conditions of bathrooms on West Campus and making better use of unused rooms, but no decisions were made.
In addition, Southgate House Council was granted a $1,200 finance request to help fund the rave they have planned for November. The event, though targeted toward freshmen, will be open to all students.
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